


A Flower for a Muffin

by Moon_Raccoon_exe



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Baker Ignis, Florist Gladio, Fluff, M/M, Romance, Shy Gladio, Shy Ignis, This is a shyness mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-05
Updated: 2017-10-05
Packaged: 2019-01-09 11:50:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12275898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moon_Raccoon_exe/pseuds/Moon_Raccoon_exe
Summary: One day, a young man opens a bakery across the street from the Amicitia siblings' flower shop.Gladiolus, eldest of the siblings, grows curiosity for this man, and wonders if the baker across the street has noticed him the same way.Mere fluff originally requested on Tumblr, Baker x Florist AU.





	A Flower for a Muffin

**Author's Note:**

> Original Tumblr request/post can be found here
> 
> http://moonraccoon-exe.tumblr.com/post/165386687853/i-would-adore-you-forever-and-ever-if-you-wrote-a
> 
> Fanart it's inspired in
> 
> http://moonraccoon-exe.tumblr.com/post/164868487523/yuu-be-good-viv-ha-domestic-au-where-the

The Baker’s Manor. Quite a charming name for a bakery shop, Gladio had to admit. It was, however, a small place nowhere close to being any visually impressive. Perhaps that was what made it so charming; a tiny place calling itself something as big. A small, humble castle is still a castle, he guessed.

It appeared some time after Gladio and his sister, Iris, started running their own flower shop. The space of the bakery had been empty and closed, and gave the essence of abandoned. But now, half a year after the opening of the Iridae Flower Shop, The Baker’s Manor stood stunningly clean and warm-looking across the street, literally across it, one establishment face-to-face to the other.

It was small, sure, but only a glance to it made anyone want to enter and get something. Painted outside as if it was made out of red bricks, the red and soft subtle-golden stripes of the awning, and the pretty letters of the name. Not to talk about the display window; cupcakes that looked as if taken out of an art book, perfectly round cookies with almost a symmetrical perfection, brilliant cakes with unusual forms, and endless shapes of bread, and bread and more and more bread. Warm. Crunchy-looking. Golden. Always freshly taken out of the oven.

Everything, from the outside to the bread, looked gorgeous. It gave off the essence of effortless elegance, natural beauty, warmth, and shelter.

Like its owner.

The first time that Gladio saw him, he had thought it was only a worker or some random guy walking by. Gladio had been carrying boxes with new flowers from the car to the store when he looked across the street; a guy, slender and tall but smaller than Gladio, hair of such a light shade of brown it was almost blond, glasses, and a certain air of melancholy to himself, carrying a box on his own, stopping at the door of the abandoned establishment, and opening it.

Gladio stood outside the Iridae Flower Shop just watching. Nobody so young could be the owner; him, twenty three, had not had enough money for the shop on his own (it had been thanks to his dad that they could open the shop, to be sincere). And this guy was…what? Nineteen? With such a young beauty to himself, those androgynous and pretty eyebrows, and that cuteness, manly, of course, but still cuteness…impossible to tell. 

The guy did not come back out, so Gladio shrugged it off, believing maybe that he was the son or helper of the real owner.

But as the months went by, nobody else appeared to work except the same brown-haired guy that had yet never once looked his way. And, with those few months, Gladio learned that this was not only a worker or son of someone; this guy, as young, as terribly cute, was the owner. Or, if he wasn’t, at least he had been in charge of opening very early everyday and attend to everything, and close late at night. And Gladio had the sensation that maybe he, too, was in charge of baking…

Whoever that was, he was a mystery.

And Gladio could not take the mind off him.

 

The first time that they made eye contact had been an accident…of sorts.

The smell that made it out of the bakery either early in the morning or at random points of random days was terribly cruel to the Amicitia siblings, what with the legendary appetite they had (an Amicitia thing, their father used to say). Being literally across the street from the bakery made the smell fly all the way towards the Flower Shop and into it; there was no escape, and not even the powerful smell of nature and recently watered flowers could drown all that wonderfully baked bread being taken from an oven.

One day, while Gladio was in the middle of inventory check, the smell invaded. It was ridiculously early in the morning, and he had gone for the sake of paperwork before the hour of opening. He had never thought he would be distracted by the baker’s work; it was like the wonderful smell were a pair of ethereal and invisible hands that, once having Gladio’s nose and mind under control, caressed his face and seduced him to the outside, nose up in the air and silly smile on the face, eyes closed.

Once outside, Gladio sniffled a bit more into the air, filled his lungs with the smell, and let out a satisfied sigh, opening the eyes.

And he found him there, outside the bakery, watching him.

The guy was looking at him with an expression Gladio could not name. It was the kind of looks that people always gave him when they first saw him, and were impressed by his height and body complexion. He was used to those looks, so the baker’s was nothing new or particular, but it caused something inside him to ache in a very pretty way he had not experimented before. It made him nervous and…happy.

Gladio stared back at him, and he had no idea how long both gave each other confused eyes, like both were entirely different creatures and did not know how to react in front of each other; if run away with fear, or approach and say Hi, or simply do thing.

When the guy quickly glanced down at Gladio’s hand and back up to his eyes, the florist blinked and looked down, bringing his own hand up, only then noticing he was holding a rose. Must have had it in hand before the smell hypnotized him out of his store.

He looked at the flower and back up at the baker. And the only thing in his head was to say Hello, and explain why he was holding a flower while standing there doing nothing. He had a speech prepared, he had it…but as soon as he tried to speak, he found out he had gone mute, and the only thing he could do was to raise the flower a little, point with a finger above his shoulder back to the Flower Shop, and nervously grin at the guy.

And the guy smiled back.

Gladio, a little nervous, reacted by somehow waving, even though it was more like showing his palm for one second to the other than actually gesturing.

And the guy waved back.

Or tried to; as soon as he lifted his hand, he brought it back down, looked away, and proceeded to take a glove off. Gladio blinked with curiosity and feeling suddenly slapped in the face: the guy was wearing oven mitts.

He was more than the owner, he was the _baker_ too…

Gladio felt a smile curving his lips, unable to blink or to take the eyes off the guy. He looked flustered and very embarrassed; he looked maybe even a bit uncomfortable about having waved with a gloved hand, as if embarrassed of exposing his role as baker, what with the way he was now staring away and lifting his now free palm at the florist.

_He’s the baker._

_That’s so cool…_

Gladio felt an impulse to hurry his way over to the guy and ask him ‘Are you the baker!?’ like it was not obvious enough already, and then bombard him with endless questions; ‘That’s so cool, how do you do it?’ ‘It all smells fantastic, think I could buy something?’, ‘Everything looks and smells so nice, you must be fantastic at what you do, that’s so cool’, ‘Since when do you bake?’, ‘Are you the owner too?’, ‘Aren’t you too young? How old are you?’

_What is your name?_

But all that his body did was to offer a happy grin that seemed to make the guy forget about his previous embarrassment, smile at him, and return to the inside of the bakery shop. Gladio was waving again even though the guy had already disappeared, and he looked at the door as if expecting him to walk back out again. A few seconds later, he looked down at the rose he held, and smiled at it as well.

_Who are you…?_

 

Gladio sometimes glanced over at the bakery shop. It was not overcrowded, ever, but it was not a failure either. Sometimes he caught little glimpses of the baker inside, going places, re-decorating the display window, attending the counter. But it was all fleeting looks.

He considered many times to go and buy something just as an excuse to say Hi, but…he found himself unable to do so. Something stopped him. Every time he put a foot in the direction of the bakery shop, he stopped and returned over his steps, not understanding why.

 

One day, the landlord of the space that was used for the flower shop stormed in yelling something about the rent. That month had not been particularly low on sales (the flower shop, if not an overcrowded, popular place, was a success nonetheless), but the Amicitia siblings had used some of the money to pay for medical attention for their dad (who worked as bodyguard to a now old friend of his, and had been injured in an assault). Of course, the landlord did not care where the money had gone, except it had not gone to his wallet.

And so, yelling about the rent and the time he would wait for the Amicitia to pay before kicking them out, the landlord exited, with Gladiolus both indirectly threatening and directly promising to have the money sometime soon.

And, to his disgrace, the baker was outside, listening and watching.

Gladio did not realize until he was turning to go back into his own shop. Stunning like always, elegant like always, in a dress shirt and suspenders. Down on his ankles in front of his chalkboard sign, holding a piece of chalk, watching the landlord leave on his car. And then turning to look at Gladio.

The florist felt embarrassed; public arguments are already embarrassing enough and he felt disgusted by people who did that…to have become one of those in front of the ( _oh so darn cute, so darn skilled, and oh gods, so gorgeous_ ) baker….

Gladio looked away and felt his face become red in embarrassment, but he found it rude to just ignore the baker. He watched the man go back up on his feet and clean his hands on a handkerchief he took from a pocket of his pants, still staring at Gladio. The florist shrugged a shoulder and gave him a forced smile that almost seemed to say “Sucks, doesn’t it?”. The baker tilted the head very subtly, like a curious bird. Gladio watched the baker look at the flower shop, back at the florist, his chalkboard sign, and then push his glasses over his nose, only to offer the bow of the head as some silent ‘Goodbye’ and return into the bakery.

Gladio, feeling blue, contained a sigh in the chest. What a horrible day. He looked at the sign; ‘New cupcakes; flower themed. Only $7′.

With the smell of the oven invading at an unusual hour that evening, Gladio returned into his shop, and thought about something new that could bring some extra people to the shop for the rest of the month…

 

The following day, people kept coming into the Iridae Flower Shop all day, one after the other, one right after the next one, one after that one, and one more behind. Only a few ordered something like a bouquet or an arragement, but the rest of the costumers, the great majority, only asked for one flower or two. It was not strange to sell one flower (it was the most common of sales), but this was starting to turn suspicious; never, not even back in February or December, had they had these many costumers in only one day. 

By afternoon, and while Iris attended more people, Gladio counted the money backstore; they had earned the same money they tended to make in five days, in only that one. This was fantastic, sure, but also suspicious and odd. What on Eos or the city had caused all these people to appear out of nowhere…?

Only then, after all day, Gladio thought about simply looking where one of the costumers headed. He exited the backstore and went past the counter, telling Iris he would be back in a minute, and walked behind a guy that was exiting with his recently bought flower in hand.

He did not need to look any further; the guy crossed the street straight to the bakery shop. Where a small crowd of people who had just bought a flower minutes ago stood outside, waiting their turn.

Gladio blinked, confused, staring at the people gathered both outside and inside the bakery shop. Not understanding, he looked at the chalkboard sign from the previous day. and found the text had changed; instead of the simple decoration, there were vines drawn on the borders, with a few flowers on them. And the text…

_‘A flower for a muffin!’,_ it read in big, and smaller below: _‘Bring us a flower, and we give you a muffin for free in return.’_

Gladio blinked at it, eyes wide. His only reaction was to look up at the bakery; inside, the mysterious guy kept coming and going, always with a soft smile, receiving flowers and giving muffins in return.

_What the hell is going on?_

Before he could rush to the bakery, Iris called for him inside, and he had to return to help with the sales. And, only as he worked, it hit him on the head like a brick: of course, the landlord’s outrage from the previous evening. He had yelled about kicking them out of they didn’t pay for the rent, and Gladio had yelled back promising to have enough for it soon. And the guy had heard. And had seen. The Amicitia were not short on money, but the baker did not know that. No context besides the little part of the argument he must have heard must have made him think…

Astrals above.

_He’s doing it for us._

Gladio could not stop smiling during the rest of the work day. He had thought multiple times on sending a costumer to give his thanks to the baker for him, but had decided not to.

He would do it himself.

Finally, after months of staring from across the street, Gladio would go and say Hello to that mysterious man.

On the little breaks he had between costumers, Gladio looked around in the shop for a flower, one that the guy could like. Did he even like flowers? What sort of flowers? Well, he looked elegant and formal and pretty and the air around him was as warm as the bread he baked…maybe a red and elegant flower. Red for the warmth that emanated from the man, elegant for his body language, stunning for his looks…and beautiful, for his actions. His kindness. Oh, his dear heart, still a mystery, but apparently so, so beautiful.

_‘A rose. Like the first time we looked at each other. It could be meaningful…’_

_‘But, isn’t it too cliché? What if he thinks I’m asking him out? Well, I do like him that way, but I don’t want to look creepy, we’ve never spoken….’_

Even though he thought about it during the rest of the evening and part of the night, hesitating and having a shy side of him he had no idea existed, he ended up picking the rose.

He and Iris closed the flower shop after making sure to put the money in the small safe and ordering the place, radiant of happiness, Gladio playfully half-hugging and stroking Iris’ head, only to be playfully punched back. He had offered to take Iris home, then return to thank the baker, but his sister had been faster; earlier that day, she had texted friends of her, and it wasn’t long before one of them arrived on bike. Promising to be at her friend’s for a few hours before dad could pick her up, she waved bye and wished him ‘luck with Mysterious Baker’.

Gladio could not help a little smile and a soft blush while waving back; oh, Iris. She was definitely giving him this privacy on purpose. It was fantastic, to have such an understanding sister, but it was a bit embarrassing to have her know his feelings.

Arming himself with all the courage he could gather, Gladio fidgeted a bit with the rose in his hands and crossed the street. It had been a while since the bakery had closed as well, and the sign was there. A bit shy of waiting outside and looking like a creep, Gladio recklessly decided to simply walk in. When he pushed the door he found it was open (thank the Astrals), and the little bells ringed above his head.

“My apologies, but we are…”

_His voice._

_His voice sounds like his bread smells; warm, delicious, wonderful…hypnotizing._

Gladio stopped in his place as soon as he heard the baker speaking; whatever he had expected, nothing had prepared him for that voice. The baker was just behind the counter, putting on a blazer (possibly getting prepared to leave the store), and had turned when he heard the little bells. But he, too, shut his words midways when his eyes found Gladio standing there.

Gladio tried to do something, but he could just smile at the baker. It took the guy a while; he kept the eyes slightly wide on Gladio as if shocked, and, as if he had recognized him from another life, or as if he had been expecting that visit except not knowing when, the baker offered a smile that almost felt…excited.

“It’s you” the baker greeted, a bit awkwardly. A nervous hand moved up so he used a gloved finger (normal gloves instead of his mitts) to gently scratch under his jaw, and his eyes went away again. “I mean…” he looked back at Gladio, still smiling. “How may I…help you?”

“Uhm…” Gladio looked away for a moment. “I hope I’m not a bother, I know you’re closed but…”

“No, it’s fine” the guy reassured, looking again at him and continuing to adjust his blazer. “How may I help you?”

“Ah, no, I mean-” Gladio approached the counter, and he felt an entire zoo in his stomach when the guy went through it so there were no barriers in between. He felt his face become red and his heart pounded loud in his chest. _‘Calm, Gladio, it’s going to be okay, just be sincere...’_ “I wanted…your sign today. Wow. It brought a lot of people to the flower shop.”

“My costumers are quite lucky” the baker said, calmly. “What a good coincidence they had a flower shop right across the street.”

“What a good coincidence, yeah” Gladio agreed on the obvious lie, and smiled.

The guy smiled back at him. It took them some moments before both went shy in front of each other; the baker looked away, arms crossing, while Gladio, keeping the hands behind himself, looked down and had a foot toying with the floor. Gods, he had never been shy about confessing feelings, not since he was like fifteen, why and how could this baker make him feel so desperately nervous?

“Say, I’m…” the florist started after a moment. He paused. “I’m…very grateful. Seriously, it was awesome on your side to do that.”

“I didn’t do it for you” the baker said and stared away, a hand moving up to push his glasses. Gladio watched his cheeks become red, and he could not help a wide smile and a melting heart at the sight. “I just..thought my shop needed some decoration inside. Flowers will add a pretty look to it, so it was an excuse for my costumers to bring me a wide variety.”

Gladio chuckled and grinned at him. The baker smiled in return, and both went quiet again for some moments.

“Excuse me…” the baker said after a while, not looking more nor less confident than Gladio, just as nervous and shy as him. “I am afraid you haven’t given me your name.”

“Well…I only have one” Gladio replied, smiling. “If I give it to you, I’ll be left with nothing.”

“I could give you mine in exchange, then.”

The florist felt the butterflies in his stomach all going crazy inside him, and for a moment he thought they would make it explode inside him. Gods, this was flirting but in a way he had never experienced before. For once, while his words did not hesitate, he felt shy and excited and nervous and _gods, I like him so much_. He and the baker shared a little smile again.

“Gladiolus” the florist said lowly. “Like the flower.”

“Gladiolus….”

Oh gods. It was his name, in the voice of this strange and beautiful creature. In that wonderful voice of bread and warmth. Never before had it sounded like that. Never before had it felt so good to hear his name.

“It’s an honor, Gladiolus-Like-the-Flower” the baker said with a tiny bow of the head. “I’m Ignis.”

Ignis. _Ignis._ Gladio blinked softly and contained a breath in the chest. Ignis. the name tasted so good in his head. Like warm, freshly made bread. Better than that. Ignis.

“Ignis…” Gladio said in a murmur, tasting the sound of it, tasting every syllable for the first time. He saw the baker react almost the same than him, containing an exhale in his chest. “Well…Since I’m Gladio-like-the-flower and I own a flower shop, I’m just going to assume Ignis who runs a bakery must be a muffin.”

Curiously, the failed attempt of a joke did earn a little laugh from the bak-…from _Ignis_. It was short and he seemed to have reacted more to the fact that Gladio tried to joke rather than the joke itself. The florist smiled and waited some moments. Ignis offered no answer, but kept smiling at him.

“Say, Ignis…if you wanted flowers” Gladio started with a smile, more confident now, “why didn’t you cross the street? I’ve got a flower shop right there, you know.”

The baker grinned at him and put the head down.

“If I’m sincere…I’ve wanted to go for a while now, but…I felt a little shy to do it.”

“Shy?” Gladio asked. “Why so?”

“I didn’t want you or the little miss to think me a creep for buying so many flowers” the baker excused himself. “Apologies.”

Gladio shook the head.

“I can’t complain that you have never come to my store, because I hadn’t come to yours either. I…I felt shy, too. _Way_ too shy” the florist said, and his smile widened. “Pretty ridiculous, isn’t it? Someone my size and looks, you’d expect a fearless and charming man, not a guy that’s too shy to cross the street and say Hi.”

“I don’t know” Ignis smiled at him, “you seem….you seem pretty charming to me…” the baker looked away and shrugged a shoulder. “Shy, sure, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t charming. If I….if I may say so, of course. I don’t mean to offend you if I’m being too direct…”

Gladio’s smile had faded as soon as the baker had called him ‘Charming’. He did but look at the smaller man in front of him, a bit flustered, but not afraid of looking at the florist to the eyes. Gladio smiled back.

“That’s a compliment” Gladio said. “Of course it doesn’t offend me.”

Both looked at each other and widened their smiles. It took a moment before Gladio looked down first, trying to think on what to say.

“Uhm…Ignis…I wanted…” he stopped to swallow. “…sure, I was shy to come earlier. But, I saw your announce of today and I couldn’t resist anymore. I had to come here and…”

Said that, he finally brought his hand from slightly behind himself up to the height of his chest, holding the rose. Ignis looked at it and his smile faded. Gladio watched him stare at the flower for more moments before looking up at him. Green. His eyes were green.

Gladio smiled.

_“A flower”_ he quoted in a murmur, and brought the rose closer to Ignis, _“for a muffin.”_

Ignis stared at him a little longer. Gladio only smiled in return, until the baker stared away with a happy if tiny chuckle, hands reaching up a bit fearfully. Soon, Ignis looked at the rose and, with slightly trembling hands, he accepted it, his hands touching Gladio’s in the process. When their hands came in contact, they caressed a little more than necessary as Gladio’s went away.

Ignis held the rose and admired it in silence.

“I…cut off all the thorns, so…don’t worry about holding it” Gladio said, a hand going up to caress at his neck, face flushed red. Ignis looked at him and blinked, a little puzzled, before his eyes scanned the flower. Not a single thorn, indeed. 

This man had taken his time to cut the thorns off. To give it to _him._

_He didn’t just pick any random flower…_

Ignis smiled at the rose.

“While I do thank you, I’m afraid I’ve run out of muffins today…”

“What a shame” Gladio said. “I’ll have to come back tomorrow, then.”

“Or I can go give it to you tomorrow, Gladiolus” the baker offered, looking up at him. “That way you could show me some of your flowers. Like the one you’re named after. Maybe I can buy one of those.”

“That sounds great” Gladio murmured, unable to take his eyes off the baker’s. Both stayed quiet, sharing a glance. Not knowing when, the distance between them had gotten reduced to some inches in between. Both realized, but none backed away. “I can show you all our flowers. Any you want. The ones you like. That is…if…if you like flowers…”

“It depends on which flower we’re talking about” the baker replied in a murmur as well, holding the rose between them and glancing back at it for only a moment. “Roses…I like those. Very much.”

Said that, the baker got slightly closer again, until the chests were almost pressed one against the other. They looked at each other’s eyes for another while, in silence, smiling.

“Ignis” Gladio called lowly. “Thank you for today. It was…so nice of you. It was…” he stopped to sigh. “You’re…” yet another silence. “I’m…I feel…” Ignis smiled at him a little amused, and so the florist smiled back. There was a pause. “Ignis” he whispered now. “May I…kiss you?”

Ignis said nothing. But he nodded. The florist smiled at him and still took his time before starting to lean down. Both closed the eyes, and Gladio continued to reach closer, closer…

And, suddenly, his lips found something humid and with different texture to the expected one of skin.

When Gladio opened the eyes and looked down, he found his lips pressed to the rose, placed right between his mouth and Ignis’.

“I’m sorry” the baker said with a small laugh. “I got nervous.”

Gladio laughed lowly with him.

“We don’t have to if you don’t-”

“I want” the baker said, firm. “I just…you’re kind of…you make me feel…” he cleared his throat. “I was nervous. But I want it. Please…” he paused, and his voice went low again. “…please…continue.”

The baker blinked at him, chest swelling and palms tickling, while the florist grabbed his chin; it was a gentle touch, a soft caress. Careful, trembling fingers under his chin, lifting his head so, oh so carefully. Soon enough, Gladio closed the eyes and leaned down. Once he was close, Ignis closed the eyes and only waited. 

It was soft, and shy on both sides. Their lips rubbed at first, nervous, before coming in touch. They stayed pressed together with no movement; only the touch was enough to have both tensing and relaxing at the same time, nervous and calm, eager and peaceful, all at once.

When they broke apart, Ignis realized he had rested his hands on the florist’s chest, holding the rose, while Gladio kept the hand under his chin. They looked at each other in total silence and needed no words for a while, only a little smile. 

“…you feel like flowers” Ignis said after a small while, but he did not step back from Gladio. His free hand went up for it to syly use a few fingertips to ghost at Gladio’s lips, and the florist let him explore. 

“And you, like a muffin” Gladio replied, his hand letting go of the baker’s chin to move down and get a hold of his arm. “Soft and warm.”

Ignis smiled at him, and pressed himself closer to Gladio once more, allowing the florist to wrap his strong arms around his waist. Feeling oddly safe in the arms of a man he was just meeting, Ignis smiled and let him rest their foreheads on each other. 

“I was aware I would receive a lot of flowers” Ignis whispered to him. “I just didn’t think it would bring the prettiest one of the Gladioli to me.”

“You’ve got a pretty way with words, you know?” the florist said. “You’re talking flowers, and I called you Muffin.”

That earned yet another small laugh from the baker, and had him wrapping his arms around Gladio’s neck. The florist smiled, nonetheless, and hugged Ignis closer, feeling him get on his tiptoes for their mouths to ghost each other.

“Definitely the most charming.”

With the rose in a hand, Ignis finished wrapping the arms around his flower, and pressed their lips together again, while Gladio returned the kiss, hugging him close.

_The gods have mercy on me,_ he thought as they kissed, _he tastes just like his bread smells._

Funny, he thought, how love appears when one stops looking for it. In unexpected places. In unexpected people.

_In the baker across the street._

**Author's Note:**

> Seen as original had poor reception, I don't expect any feedback and I'm posting only to change my number of posted works from 13 to 14 (personal issues with number 13, hahaha), but it would be very nice if you leave some, if you enjoyed of the story,. :)
> 
> Thank you!


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